The Second Chance
by Outside the Solar System
Summary: Would you start over if you got the chance?


**A/N: I had dream about this so you know… and I get to test out my theory**

**Anyhow, it takes place after Pein's Invasion, when they are reconstructing.**

**Please read and review**

**Still don't know if I should make this story into 1****st**** person, Third Person, Third Person-Omniscient, or Third Person-Limited. Help me please**

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Her eyes looked from left to right, and right to left; she couldn't find him anywhere. It was, dare she admit, uncomfortable to not have the blonde boy next to her. Most of the times she didn't even have to try to look for him; he would just be waiting at the corner for her, or be right next to her. Now, it was as if he were maintaining a distance from her, which led her to wonder even more. She asked several villagers, yet none had seen him. Just when she was going to give up searching for him she had caught his huge grin, and his hands rested behind his head. She smiled when she realized he had just come out of Ichiraku; but then again when wasn't he there? She ran up to him, calling his name; seeing his smile disappearing, but pretended not to notice.

"Where were you, you knucklehead? I've been looking everywhere for you." She teased him, but that monotone expression was still on his face.

"Oh Hi…" He said while putting his hands in his pockets; keeping zero eye contact with pink haired girl. This, however, was getting her annoyed, but she maintained her anger.

"What no 'Sakura chan'? You've been pretty cold these past few days. What's wrong?" Sakura stated with concern for teammate/ closest friend. He blew out a sigh; this wasn't going to be easy for either of them. The only reactions to Naruto's actions were simple: a quirked eyebrow, and confused expression.

"Sakura," He gulped. "I don't know if…I think we should…" Getting very annoyed with his stumbling and his resistance to meet her eyes, she yelled at him to spit it out. He flinched to the statement, but she quickly apologized.

"I think we should end our friendship." He spat out.

"Huh?" Was the only word that slipped through her tongue; the medical ninja was not expecting this. Eyes as small as one's can possibly get, jaw slightly hung, and a facial expression mixed with different emotions.

"I think it's best if we remained teammates and nothing else." It was then he had met her in the eye, and noticed the confusion and the…_hurt_ glowing like the sun. She asked why, yet he had not answered. A few minutes of silence passed by them, Sakura starring at Naruto as if he were an infection and Naruto had become very interested in his shoes.

He opened his mouth, "You're…You're not a good friend Sakura." He gulped again, but this time ready to confront her. "You always yelled at me, lectured me, and hit me. No matter what I did, no matter how many times I've tried to make you acknowledge me, you always brought me down, and I don't want to get hurt anymore." Even though he was completely calm, she had sensed the anger lurking within his words. The tears were warning their arrival, but she had managed to keep them off.

"I think I have more bruises from you than I do from fighting." He chuckled lightly, trying to make a joke out of the situation, but couldn't; the air was too stiff.

"But Naruto-"

"Look I really don't want to spend a lot of time on this. Besides, I have to go do something." Naruto interrupted the rosette before she could even speak. Only to be walking in the opposite position in which she stood; he had lightly brushed his shoulder, before she had come to her senses.

"Naruto" She yelled out for him, but did not face him; for she did not want him to see the way she had looked so weak. He stopped and looked at her back; she was hiding again.

"Let me ask you this Sakura, how could we be friends if _you_ can't even see through my fake smiles." Naruto turned around and continue to watch. The more he walked away from her, the more he had felt a sudden feeling of relief that feeling when all, or some, of the pain is gone. However, this was quite the opposite for Sakura; she felt like the burden on her shoulder had tripled.

"_How can I, when you can't even see through mine?"_ She whispered, as if he were still there in front of her. An eternity was felt, until she finally began walking. The tears ran down her face as she walked through the streets of Konoha by herself. The guilt was tearing her apart, and she felt a tad drowsy. She tried to think back to where she went, but aside from being abusive, she did not know. She silently cried as she walked, still thinking. But then, a thought occurred "Why did it hurt so much?" She wasn't in love with him, but there was always something else that told her not to cross that line.

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"Mendokuse, troublesome woman lay off the complaints alright," Shikamaru told the Ambassador from Suna. He didn't know if she was doing it on purpose or not, but either way he wanted her to stop. On the other hand, Temari was shooting him her casual grin- hinting that it was her intention to get him annoyed. Shikamaru sighed; he expected nothing less from the troublesome Ambassador. But damn the curse he and all the other Nara men were born with; he couldn't help but find her a turn on. Either way, it was annoying him to hell. As the two continued down the streets of Konoha, Shikamaru spotted a pink-haired kunoichi, and remembered the death threat his teammate gave him if he didn't deliver the message to her.

"Hey Sakura, Ino said she wanted to talk to your or something. She's in the flower shop" Shikamaru informed her. _Ino_, her eyes grew in size when she heard this name; she had finally found the answer to her question. Her crying stopped, her head popped up, and anger and determination filled her eyes. She thanked him and went on.

"Was she crying?" Temari asked, but received a shrug from her guider. "Tell me, how many crybabies do you have here?" Shikamaru stared at her with an implausible expression on his face, but was quickly replaced with a smug.

"After what we did in my room last night, I don't think it's your place to be talking." Temari stopped in her tracks while Shikamaru continued to walk. She shot him a death glare that would have sent anyone off, but it didn't quite affect him; if anything he was immune to it. Shikamaru turned around to see an embrassed, yet pissed-off, Temari glaring at him. He easily surpassed his laughter at her facial expression. Once she had cached up to him, the two continued to the Hokage's office to deliver their reports.

As soon as Sakura had reached her home, she quickly searched for an empty box. After endless search, she had found one. Sakura looked for everything that had belonged to Ino. She now knew why she had continuously suffered even after Ino had befriended her; why she was who she was. Sakura looked at herself in the mirror, and did not recognize herself. Before, she believed herself to be: **Haruno Sakura, best and sexiest kunoichi in all the Land of the Fire.** Nowadays, she found herself lost- but when wasn't she? All she did know was that she lost a friend…a brother.

Once Sakura had reached the Yamanaka Flower shop the door had rung when she entered. She looked up from her magazine, and greeted her. Sakura, on the other hand, just stared at her with cold eyes. She dropped the package on the counter, and turned around to leave. Ino couldn't help but to be puzzled. Sakura sensed it, and turned around to face her; the cold expression never left her face.

"It's everything you ever gave me," Sakura headed for the door. "Besides, it's like what my okaa-san use to say: a house is only clean once you rid of the useless crap." Ino felt frustrated, yet confused in front of the pink haired girl. She jumped over the counter, and ran towards Sakura who was already walking down the streets.

"Yamete," Ino yelled and Sakura stopped. "What the hell was that about?" A colder expression now reached Sakura's face and all Ino could do was to mimic that emotion.

"I'm done with you; it's because of you that I suffered so much. Because of you, I fell in love with Saskue only to get my heartbroken," Now she was pointing fingers. "And it's because of you that I lost the one person who actually cared about me." Her arm roughly fell to her side. Ino couldn't digest the argument she was currently in.

"Baka, I saved you from everyone! How dare you disrespect me? If it wasn't for me, you'd still be nothing, a no one" Ino was angry. She was angry, because she was being blamed for something she found ridiculous. Sakura, on the other hand, remained with the same appearance on her face.

"If I would have known it would end up this way, I'd rather be nothing than your shadow" She then left a confused Ino behind, but still felt lonely. It wasn't as if it was something new to her- because she had indeed suffered but it was quite a burden to remember it.

The sun began to set over Konoha, and Sakura had a rather _quiet _walk home; she never knew she'd missed the sound of Naruto's talkative voice. It had been a long day, and after the earlier incidents, it was a miracle that she could still walk. Once she had reached her home, Sakura dragged herself up the stairs; almost falling each time. When she was in her room, she dropped her medicine bag on her small table, and kneeled next to the window on her bed. She slid it open, and let the refreshing breeze come in. It blew through her hair sending tremendous shiver down her body. That was when she heard it: 'ttebayo; and she couldn't help but smile at the fact that he was loud. Before, she would've yelled at him for saying that, because it was a nuisance. Nowadays, it always added strength to her confidence.

Her eyes began to create storms, and she let it rain. It wasn't like before when she would cry for every single little thing, but now she had a reason to cry. A real reason and she felt it too.

"I'm sorry Naruto, for everything." She mumbled through her tears, and drifted to sleep. It was times like these that she wished revert time; start from the beginning.

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**A/N: Well this took about a week to do (I care about school) and so yeah. Criticism is strongly strongy strongly suggested. Please note any mistakes and errors I may have made in the story. Haha, I bet most of you thought that Sakura was going to say "Naruto...I love you" If you did XD no comment. If you didn't, well GOOD FOR YOU**

**Penny-Chan out **


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